Welcome to the never-ending trip report. Previous chapters are listed below.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom posted Feb. 13th
Magic Kingdom posted Feb. 20th
Disney’s Hollywood Studios posted Feb. 23rd
Downtown Disney and More posted Feb. 27th
Epcot posted March 6th
Islands of Adventure and Universal Orlando posted March 13th
Epcot, Again posted March 20th
Disney Resorts and Celebration posted March 23rd
Once upon a time, two crazy friends took an 11-day vacation to Walt Disney World. Let’s begin with day 9. It might not be so much as the beginning of the story itself but it’s the start of day 9. This marked their 8 theme park visit since their arrival in Orlando. The excitement was still in full force but their feet and bodies were not. Sleep? Lisa slept through the nights getting 6-7 hours of rest. Yoli kept waking up, falling asleep, and waking up, and falling asleep, and repeat.
Forget the narration, it’s too late for me to switch gears.
We set off in our matching Newbie and the Geek Take Walt Disney World shirts because we’re awesome. As before, we drove to Magic Kingdom’s entrance plaza but this time I followed the blue line to AAA Diamond Parking and voila! we wound up in Villains right near the front. In fact, we walked to the Ticket and Transportation Center and then set sail on the ferry. Yoli loved the ferry until the cold breeze turned her into a popsicle.
Our first order of business was to take a train ride all around the park. I desperately tried to keep my mouth shut so as not to tell Yoli it was going to stink in comparison to Disneyland’s train ride. She figured it out. The difference in what you can see from the train in one park versus the other is huge. Back at the Main Street Station, I lost Yoli the second I disembarked. I went left. She went right and kept on chugging. Someone, please sell adult fuzzy backpacks with leashes.
Are they giving away turkey legs?
We strolled along Main Street taking photos and then headed straight to Fantasyland and into the expansion. Ahhhh. Finally, I got to see the sparkling new attractions’ signs and wait times. Dude! I was not going to wait an hour to meet Belle or 90 minutes to maybe grab a sandwich. We kept going. Gaston! Where are youououou? Nowhere. We poked around Bonjour Village Gifts. I have to say the dinnerware would be good for entertaining. The area was super busy so we left and tried for Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid. It was down, under.
I wonder what kind of candy they give out on Halloween, perhaps wax lips, Teaberry gum or candy watches.
There’s a wall separating princesses from circus folk so you have to back track and walk around to visit the rest of the expansion. The wait for Dumbo 1 and Dumbo 2 (What would Dr. Seuss say?) was too long and you can’t play inside the circus tent without waiting in line, said the Cast Member who nearly made clowns cry. The Great Goofini is much like Gadget’s Go Coaster at Disneyland so we bypassed it and decided to wait and meet Daisy and Minnie Mouse at Pete’s Silly Sideshow. My feet hurt and the line barely moved after 10 minutes so we cut out, took a quick photo from the side and did some more browsing at Big Top Souvenirs. I tried to lure Yoli into a sugar high by offering her a cupcake but she declined and went outside to sit in the sun.
Gypsies are all the rage. Daisy should have her own reality show soon.
Lunch was served at Columbia Harbour House. The high-demand seats upstairs were open but my pal didn’t know about them and sat elsewhere. Oh well, training takes time. With full tummies we visited the Country Bear Jamboree. I silently griped about some of the physical changes to the bears and their raccoon friend. Sometimes updates aren’t for the better. Yoli was thrilled to see the bears again because the show closed forever to make way for Winnie the Pooh’s attraction in Disneyland. Oh, I’d better not think about it or I’ll become miserable.
We picked up some FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, ventured off to Tom Sawyer Island, and found a new spot to watch the parade. Also, if I point out, we avoided stairs as much as possible because our feet were in great pain. Plopped down just before the deck that faces Liberty Square, we watched the floats go by, waved at Guests, and enjoyed the sunshine.
Aladdin and I never came face to face on this trip. I’m going to blame Yoli and not poor timing.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for us. The line was long and moved a little slower than normal but Yoli didn’t notice, she was busy playing with her phone and then once we inside, touching everything in arm’s reach. I advised her that the drops are bupkis compared to those at Disneyland. She agreed. It was cool though, seeing what was the same and how the attractions differed from coast to coast. She’s not a big Jungle Cruise fan like I am (hard to believe) but sacrificed some time to check out the ride. We had a great skipper whose name eludes me. To this day I love the guy who sang, Gene Wilder’s scary tunnel song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
She actually stopped narrating and began posing for me. You had to be there.
Back to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for a visit to the wildest ride in the wilderness. We agreed this version is longer and thus has more drops and turns. That evening we also saw The Enchanted Tiki Room, flew on magic carpets, had dinner at Pecos Bills, revisited Hall of Presidents, and I got my ice cream cookie sandwich from Sleepy Hollow. In addition we went back Haunted Mansion.
Time to try New Fantasyland again. Lines were sooooo much shorter now. We waited 20 or so minutes for Enchanted Tales with Belle. The whole experience was cute and certainly different from any other attraction in the parks. I liked Lumiere and Wardrobe participating in the show. I would like to mention that Yoli nearly killed me at one point. We were seated inside the salon (or whatever the room is) and when Belle made her appearance I muttered “Eh”. What do you want from me? I was still searching for Gaston!
Imagine if this took place at the Apollo. Now that would be lively.
As we approached Be Our Guest Restaurant and the stud guarding the doors, we were turned away. It was closed. Maaaan. He wouldn’t even let us peek inside. Come to think of it, I’m surprised Yoli didn’t touch him and try to sweet talk her way in. Wow, she must have been tired or I missed it. A quick stop at Gaston’s for Yoli’s night cap, hot chocolate and then we rounded off the Extra Magic Hours with a visit to Pooh, a ride on the Tomorrowland Speedway, and one last circle above Tomorrowland via the People Mover.
She’s so happy to be anywhere but the 101, 405 or 5.
Main Street USA was deserted.
We bought Mouse Ears. I rocked mine from early evening on. Yoli sported hers later. Obviously, I’m way cooler.
Some final shopping was 100% necessary as we only had 1 more full day at Walt Disney World and we were somehow awake.
The sad walk out.
Next week I’ll recap Epcot, our last full vacation day. The day we left we just lounged around until it was time to head to the airport. Get ready, the trip will be ending soon.
Newbie and the Geek bonus material can solely be found on my Facebook page.
Loving the trip reports!
How’d you get that great shot of Main Street at night? I’ve tried several times and it’s always either totally washed out or just bright lights and no colors.
Lisa responds: Kristin, I handheld a long exposure. Thanks for reading the trip report.
Nooo, I don’t want your trip to end, I’m enjoying it too much! Sounds like you had a great time, thanks for sharing!
Lisa responds: All great trip reports must come to an end so another vacation can be planned. Thank you for reading
On our trip this past February, Magic Kingdom was supposed to be open until 10 for Extra Magic Hours. However, they changed it to Midnight. We stayed, were freezing (bought a 2013 sweatshirt but was still freezing). Didn’t know they close the monorail down and we had to take the boat across the lake to Polynesian at 1 AM. I was so cold, I can’t tell you. The same thing happened next evening at Hollywood Studios, it was supposed to be open until 9 and I think they stayed open until 1. I’m not complaining but I wonder when they decide to change this stuff.
FYI, you should have waited for lunch at Be Our Guest, their wait times are way off. Only took us about 20 minutes and there was a huge line. Food at lunch was outstanding; I’m hearing not so much in evening and theming is unbelievable. You would have gotten so many great shots!
Lisa responds: Parks stay open later when attendance is higher than anticipated. I will try Be Our Guest next time around. I’m certain it’s beautiful.